World Premiere of Stetsenko’s Art Songs
By Olena Wawryshyn
The
launch of the new double-CD Kyrylo Stetsenko-The Art Songs sung by
bass-baritone Pavlo Hunka on September 14 was as refined as the performances on
the recording itself.
The
event celebrating the world premiere of the recording featuring music that
hitherto had been largely unknown outside of
Music
luminaries, notable music journalists and broadcasters, including CBC Radio’s
Catherine Belyea, who emceed the event, and supporters and financial backers of
the CD project gathered at an afternoon reception, which included a brief
formal program.
Speaking
first, the Canadian Opera Company’s General Director Richard Bradshaw said that
the new recording was “remarkable.” “It is music that gives you the shivers
when you hear it,” he said.
On
the CD, Hunka, who has sung at many of the world’s finest opera houses, was
accompanied by pianist and COC music coach Albert Krywolt. Canadian baritone Russell Braun, tenor
Benjamin Butterfield, and Gryphon Trio cellist Roman Borys joined them as
collaborating artists. “You can’t get much better than that,” said Bradshaw
commenting on their calibre.
In
closing, Bradshaw stressed that the “COC has had a wonderful relationship over
the past few years with Pavlo Hunka,” noting that he has appeared in several
major roles in the company’s productions.
Unfortunately,
Hunka, a recently diagnosed diabetic, had to bow out of the physically taxing
role of Wotan in the COC’s Ring Cycle.
Bradshaw stated that Hunka “will remain an incredibly important part of
the COC. The main thing is that he takes two months off and gets his health
back,” he said.
Hunka
then thanked Bradshaw for his warm wishes and explained how the CD originated.
25 years ago, Hunka was introduced to the songs of Stetsenko but did not yet
have the training required to sing them. A quarter of a century later, with an
established opera career under his belt, he was encouraged by a group of
supporters in
There
is a “massive gap in Ukrainian culture and that gap is the art song,” said
Hunka. For this reason, he plans to record the music of 15 Ukrainian composers
as part of the Ukrainian Art Song Project.
“It
will take time for Ukrainians to realize what we’ve done because they’re going
through awful turmoil at the moment,” said Hunka. “But the day they have an
identity of what it means to be Ukrainian and what the Ukrainian nation is, I
hope that they turn to these works and turn to them with pride,” he added.
Finally,
Hunka thanked the Canadian Opera Company for their support. “If it wasn’t for
them, this meeting today may have been a lot less than it is today,” he said.
Next,
pianist Albert Krywolt shared a few words about the recording process,
recalling how the musicians had repeated one short song 16 times to get it
right. He also read one of the poems of Oleksander Oles, the poet whose works
Stetsenko chose to set many of his songs to.
Broadcaster
Stuart Hamilton, a pianist, music coach and founder of
“I
was astonished at the range and by the variations of emotions expressed in
these songs,” he said. “This recording
gives the people who perform recitals and art songs an enormous new repertoire
to work with,” he added.
Interspersed
between the speeches, selected songs from the 42-track CD, which was produced
by
Afterwards,
while enjoying wine and hors d’oeuvres, those in attendance had a chance to
meet Pavlo Hunka, Albert Krywolt and Roman Borys and to have copies of their
CDs signed by the artists.
For
more information about the CD and where it can be purchased, visit
www.musicaleopolis.com